


Dead Without You

by MicroFox25



Series: No Days Without You [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Case Fic, Connor & North (Detroit: Become Human) Friendship, Connor Deserves Happiness, Connor adopts a child android, Featuring Kamski not understanding boundries and being weird, I'll add more tags when I think of them, I'm pretty proud of this one honestly, M/M, Markus is angry, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Morse Code, Negotiations, Post-Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective North (Detroit: Become Human), Protective Parent Hank Anderson, Secret Messages, Sensory Deprivation, Torture, child android, more specifically - Freeform, rightfully so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2019-10-12 09:50:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17465234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MicroFox25/pseuds/MicroFox25
Summary: After Connor is taken, Gavin and the crew use whatever they can to find him, along with the other missing androids.





	1. First Taken

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here's this. I hope you enjoy it. I tried hard on this so I hope it's good.

Gavin was numb as he waited around. Police were in his house, taking evidence. Chris took pictures of the window while Tina looked over the couch. The door opened again and Gavin blankly looked over and felt the blood run from his face at the sight of Hank. He was wearing pajamas still, a scowl on his face.

When he spotted Gavin, he walked over. A fist planted into his jaw painfully throwing him down and making his eyes water uncontrollably. “Fucking bastard!” Hank cursed, tried to get to Gavin again but several officers got in the way. Gavin stood up to Hank, looking him in the eye, ignoring the look of hatred that was coming from them. “You better find him. Those bastards are erasing androids. They're putting them back to factory settings because they believe it's what's right.” Hank broke free of the person holding him and grabbed Gavin's shirt, the detective letting him. “If anything happens to him, I will have your fucking head.” Gavin just nodded, nothing else to be done.

He went with Hank to the station, where he was confronted by Markus as soon as he walked in. The android from before, Josh was behind him. On the other side was a blond android with soft features. Markus walked up.

“I came to the police because my people are disappearing. I was told that they would be found. Two more have vanished and now my other friend is gone, too. What am I supposed to believe, officers? Do I have to close down New Jericho? Do I have to keep those close to me at my side?”

“Listen, Markus,” Hank started. “I'm worried about Connor, too but standing around blaming people will do nothing. You're the closest to him. Can you get into contact with him?”

“I can try. I have been trying since I heard. Either he's still in stasis or they're blocking the signal. Maybe even both. I will keep trying.” Markus walked over to Hank's desk, picking up his phone. “As I was trying to tell your boss, I received a message from Connor about an hour ago.” Gavin guessed it was as he was taken. He picked up the phone and it pinged. Hank looked. Gavin looked around him to see. “M. Manfred #684842971.” Gavin read out loud. The message was a picture and a sentence of text. The picture was slightly blurry but enough of a face for Gavin to see. There was an LED telling Gavin it was an android. The message was a series of numbers and a name. “Marvin Garcia?”

“I'm assuming it's the name of the owner.” Markus mentioned. Gavin sighed. Even getting kidnapped, Connor made more headway in the case than anyone else had while free.

“We'll look into it immediately.”

* * *

He woke up to feel hands against his neck. It took a moment to realize that the hands were actually  _ in _ his neck, sorting through his wires. He jolted, trying to get away when a hissed voice barked at him. “Stay fucking still. She's almost done.” Relieve flooded through him. Wherever he was, he was with North. Meaning all he had to do was get out of  _ wherever they were _ and they'd be free. When his neck plate slid back into place, he was helped up.

“That should be fine. When you were thrown in here, some things came loose.” He looked over to an AX400 that looked like Kara. North was next to her, a cut across her neck. The had scratches and dirt covering her face, the signs of wear and tear. “You're injured.”

“She has been protecting us. No one has been reset since she came.” The AX400 said. “she fights the humans when they come for us.” Connor scanned over her. Her designated name was Samantha, but Connor couldn't be sure. Many freed androids changed their names so humans couldn't hurt them anymore. North had her usual scowl on her face.

“Are you okay?” He asked. She wasn't exactly a friend, but she had comforted him those days. She had put aside her hatred and distrust and let him cry on her shoulder. _ Humans ain't shit, Connor. _ She had told him. _ Pick a cute android boy, use those prototype pieces and get over his ugly ass. _ He had laughed and wiped his face from tears. She pulled out a bottle of whiskey and a tube of Thirium, mixing them and pouring him a drink. Together, they drank until it was gone, Markus finding them asleep against each other. He'd even taken a picture and sent it to Connor.

“I dealt with worse. These bastards are resetting androids, so I don't have time to be hurt.” She gritted her teeth, kicking the wall. Connor took the time to search his surroundings. They were in a small room, ten feet wide by seven feet long. It was barely tall enough for Connor to stand without his head touching the ceiling. The walls were concrete and the room was cold. “so why are you here?”

“I was… in Gavin's living room. I had been electrocuted while looking for you guys. I was resting in his living room when the android's had broken through his window. When I figured that they were trying to take me, I sent a picture to Markus. I let them take me so I would know where you guys are.”

“You dumbass.” She hissed. “What are you going to do now? They blocked our signal, no messages in or out.”

“I figured that. I just had to know you were okay, that they didn't kill you guys.” North sighed, going over to sit next to another female android. Her arm was missing and half of her face was burnt.

There was also a child curled up in her lap, sobbing. “how many other rooms are there?”

“As far as I've seen, two. They opened the door to try to take Sammy but I bit that fucker, tore skin and everything. Saw two other doors in the hall before he punched me and slammed the door.” Connor nodded. Before he was taken, there were five android's plus North. There were only four android's in this room. There was a high probability that each room only held five people. That meant there were at least eight androids that he didn't know the status of. They could have been reset already, or even killed. Connor only hoped that his information to Markus would be enough.

* * *

His internal clock said that three hours had passed. Sammy was talking to Connor about her life before the revolution. “I was a childcare model. Did the housework, took care of the baby. Got fucked by the husband when the wife was at work. You know. Markus freed me during the March that one day. I was walking with them, doing what my programming told me, then I saw the others marching. Markus said something to me over the interface.  _ We are alive. You're free now _ . It was like the world was clear and I didn't have this red tape holding me there anymore. I saw, and I breathed, and I realized that it wasn't fair. I was a slave. I joined him after that.”

Connor nodded. “I was…” he swallowed thickly. “I was designed to hunt deviants. I was created by Cyberlife to hunt them and find what was causing deviancy. My job was to assist Lieutenant Hank Anderson find deviants. I think he helped me deviate. He hated me at first. But the longer we worked together, the more he opened up to the idea of us being alive.” She nodded along, showing no signs of fear like he expected she would. “it was Markus that made me deviate. He made me realize that the humans were just using me to get to their goal. I would have been replaced anyways.” He remembered when Josh was going through the files in Cyberlife. There was a model called RK900 that was already in production. There was even a model created, though they couldn't find it. Josh, Connor, and Markus looked through every floor they had access to,but never found it. Josh said he'd keep looking and would tell him if the android was discovered.

“Where do you live? I never saw you around New Jericho.”

“I live with Hank. He has a big dog that I love.” She smiled softly.

“I love dogs.” He nodded. He put his hand out, peeling back his skin. She did the same and pressed their hands together. He pushed in images of Hank and Sumo laying together, Sumo rolling over to expose his belly, Connor taking Sumo on walks. In return he got an image of Sammy being held down, pushed away when she didn't want to do something, looking at simulated bruises in the mirror. She pulled away as if she was burned.

“Sorry. I didn't mean-”

“It was an accident.” She rubbed her hand. She saw something and pulled his hand, seeing his wrist. The rope marks never healed. Connor felt himself blush blue, holding his hand against his chest. North walked over at the commotion.

“Con?” He felt his biocomponents heat.

“It was…”

“That detective?” Anger was evident on her face.

“He… I had gotten electrocuted and all of my sensors messed up. I needed to…”

“So it was consensual?”

“Entirely.”

“If he hurts you-”

“You'll have to step in line to kill him. Hank is already waiting for him to mess up.” She rolled her eyes.

“Stupid humans.” She walked back over to the child, who had seemed to fall asleep. They all jumped when the lock of the door moved. North stood keeping the child and injured android behind her. Connor stood in front of Sammy. The man came in with an android's behind him. They both had what looked like tasers in their hands. North was getting ready to attack.

“Don't!” He yelled, holding his hand out. Connor was built to resist damage and the electricity messed him up. North, who was just a domestic model, there was no telling what it would do to her. “What do you want? You've never brought in weapons, right? No matter how many times she attacked.” He scanned the man, getting information his details. GARCIA, MARVIN. Born: 11/12/1995// unemployed. Criminal record: Domestic Violence, assault, petty theft, Arson.

“We're gonna send a message. I want them to let my brother go and stop investigating. I figured that the best way to do that was with this bitch.” He pointed at North. She scowled and growled under her breath, a clear threat. Connor understood her anger. If he took her and she was reset, no one but Connor would be around to protect the other androids.

“Take me.” Connor begged. “You're sending it to the police, right? Because even if it's to Markus, the police are going to see it.”

“Why would I?”

“I'm a police android. I was working on the case. I was close to Markus as well. Closer than North, even.” He lied. She seemed to understand with a look. “Who better to send a message.” Marvin didn't seem so smart because he liked the idea, grabbing Connor instead. They dragged him through the halls. He saw another two rooms before the end of the hall.

A new room was there with a rudimentary android service station, similar to the one at Cyberlife. There were tubes and connectors and it was dirty. He tried to look around further, but a sudden sharp pain in his stomach stopped him as he collapsed to his knees. 


	2. First Message

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna TRY to keep a schedule of uploading once a week. Let's see how that works out.

Markus walked through the station like he was on a mission, and with the worried face on Josh, Gavin knew he was. He walked immediately to Hank's desk. Gavin stood and walked over, watching the screen change as Markus touched it.

Gavin felt his pulse quicken. It was a still picture with a play button in the center. Connor was there, fastened to a machine that looked closer to a torture device with something attached to his neck, his shirt gone, white Cyberlife pants in place of his pajamas. There was something holding him up around his waist as well. There were spots where his skin was white, blue blood running down his chest, and parts where it looked like the plastic under skin was gone.

When Hank played the video, something happened causing Connor's hands tightened to fists and he screamed, his body flexing and jerking. His LED was flickering, but it wasn't normal, like his back and forth it usually was. A person walked into frame, his face covered. His voice came on as Connor stopped screaming and he slumped down, voice changed with some kind of technology.

“ _Androids are not human. Android's are not alive. You will stop this investigating and let Andrew Garcia go or this will keep going. I understand that he is closest to you, so I know you will make the right choice._ ” Hank let out a shaky breath.

It was silent for a long time. “They're related.” Gavin mentioned. “Maybe brothers. They have the same last name. And he didn't ask for the other human.”

“He changed his voice.” Hank cut in, his voice wavering slightly. “So he doesn't think we know who he is.”

“Why did he say that Connor was closest to me?” Markus asked, only to be met with silence. Gavin wrote down that question, putting the card on the board. They'd built it like the old TV shows, showing all of the victims and suspects, everything they knew. There was Andrew and Marvin Garcia, Grey, the android, and Daryl Emerson. “There's another android,” Markus supplied.

“How do you know?”

“Because the static at the edges. It was shot from the optical unit of an android. It's also from a higher point than a camera would be held.” Gavin wrote _second android_ and pinned it up under Grey. Tina was helping as much as she could.

“So we know that they hate free androids.” She mentioned. “They have a place to store them.” She pointed at the card marked with _unknown location_. “Connor connected to the cameras all over. He would have seen them leave that warehouse. How did they get away? And where was the van?”

Gavin cursed and wrote the observation down. It looked like the work of a crazy person with lines and strings connecting everything at random. “Did you see the way his LED was flickering?” Gavin offered. “It wasn't a constant back and forth.” Markus looked over the video.

“He kept his face to the right, look.” They all watched. After he was slumped down, he looked over, exposing his LED the whole time. “Do you think they noticed? Or is something wrong? Worse so than being tortured?”

“possibly. But what if it's something else. Like, what if it was a message?” Gavin said.

“Yes.” Hank was very sure of that. “It's Morse code.” He looked at Gavin. “They used to have to learn it to join the force. Don't have to anymore.”

“Can you put that in words instead of just bleps?” Despite the seriousness of the situation, Hank's lips creased in the corners.

“I can,” Markus supplied. “I'll need to download the code, but after that it would be easy. There's not much he can say in a 45 second video, but it's bound to be important.” Gavin nodded. “in the meantime, someone should see if they can locate the place that the android's are being held.”

“That tech doesn't look like it's from Cyberlife. It's almost a copy, but looks wrong. It's not as clean, like it was put together with broken parts.”

“So they Frankenstein a piece of tech so, what?” Hank started to fidget with the pen he picked up. “What does it do?”

“The cord in the back is usually for looking at code, but this setup looks like its more for putting things in rather than taking out. There's another cord that's probably for resetting them. The clamps are in case of involuntary reactions. It's probably sending shockwaves through his system.”

“A torture device.” Hank stated grimly.

Tina tapped her chin, looking at the board. She pointed to the card asking why they would think Connor was the closest. “You think maybe he said that to protect someone else?” Markus walked over.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it wasn't often, but I've seen the kid in action. He's thrown himself in front of others without question.” Hank nodded. “When Hank bitched at him, he said that he was built stronger than humans.” She looked back at the board, touching the card. “What if he was doing that? Like, what if he said that to protect someone else?”

“Like North?” Markus asked. Tina shrugged.

“Maybe.” She shifted them around. Gavin was next to her and Markus was in front. “Point a gun.” She told him. Obviously confused, he pointed his finger to resemble a child using their hand as a gun. She moved his hand and pointed it at Gavin.

“So Detective Reed is North?” Gavin tried not to bristle at the android's not even using his first name. “But she's stubborn. She would rather fight than let someone protect her. She would probably throw herself in front of Connor.” Tina motioned at Josh, who moved behind Gavin as she placed him. She looked over the scene for a second before pushing Josh down to his knees.

Hank was the one that saw it first. “If she was protecting another android, perhaps a smaller or weaker one-”

“Then she would have let Connor go. Her priority was always androids.” Markus finished.

Hank played the video again, pausing when they saw the largest amount of Marvin.  “Look.” There was a white bandage on one of his arms. “How much you want to bet she did some damage?”

Markus put on his thinking face. “So there were other android's in the room with them. They were probably placed there as they were taken. So North, maybe.. three other android's, and Connor. Because she was protecting them, at least those three android's were safe enough, not reset.”

“There's no accounting for the others,” Gavin reminded, “but it's a start.” Something pinged and Markus blinked rapidly.

“The code. It's done.” Hank played the video from when the LED started blinking.

“What's it say?” Tina asked, leaning over the desk.

“N safe 5 doors 5 A.” Tina deflated.

“What does that mean?”

“N is probably North,” Gavin offered. “He was really worried about her before. They grew a bit close over the previous week. My guess is he's saying North is safe.”

Hank sat up and leaned closer. “Five doors? And what's A?”

“Maybe it's hint about how many android's are there.” It was silent while everyone pondered.

“So A is Android?” Tina pressed her fingers to her temples. “If Connor was here, he'd be able to figure this out immediately.”

“Well, we don't have him.” Hank snapped. “He was taken by people that can't just get the damn hint.”

Tina looked apologetic, sitting down in the chair beside Hank's desk. “Well, we'll work with what he have. According to the video we have twenty-three hours before he tortures Connor again.” Gavin's gut twisted at his words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just going on the assumption that Connor has everything he could need to be a police officer, including Morse code.


	3. One Step Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter brought to you by: my depression lol. I'm starting to lose my focus while writing. Luckily, I have the whole thing written already so all it takes is timely uploads.

Connor groaned as he was deposited carelessly back into the cell. He wished they hadn't put him in Cyberlife clothing because it was plasticine and uncomfortable. When the door closed, hands were over him and he hissed. Parts of his skin were missing and his under skin was damages as well. They immediately backed up and he pulled himself to sitting, leaning against the cool concrete of the wall.

“Did it work?” North asked. Connor took a moment to catch his breath, his body still a live wire with how raw it was.

“I hope someone in the precinct knows morse code because that's all I can manage.” Small movements made his whole body ache. “if I had more time with the android, i could put put a viral code in so that the videos details had more information, but I'd need to be touching him. And if I did interface and put something in, he'd probably immediately tell Marvin and would get reset again before he could actually make the video.” North cursed.

“What did they do to you?”

“They beat me for a while, probably for me to be weaker. Marvin Garcia took a knife to my chest,” he pointed at the gash where his pectoral would have been. “I turned off the sensors but they hooked me up to a machine. Don't know what it did but my physical input sensor is stuck on 100.”

“So you could feel everything.” North kicked the wall again. “Those dirty, rotten-” she went on a tirade cursing every human she knew the name of. “So the message.”

“I said that you were safe because that was Markus’ top priority. I didn't have a great deal of time, so I tried to mention the five androids to a room.” She nodded along, biting her lip. “he said that they had a day to do what he wants or it'll happen again.”

“So we have a day to figure out what to say next.” Connor nodded, silently willing his body to stop aching.

“Assuming the next message to the police will be a rant about them not listening, statistically we have about fifty seconds. I have to do it fast enough to get the whole message out but slow enough that they can actually see it happening.”

Connor closed his eyes. He imagined he could feel arms around him, a disembodied voice telling him everything was going to be okay. He'd fallen asleep watching an old comedy from the 90s with Gavin. Something about a girl who could move things with her mind. Gavin talked about how he wasn't even alive when it came out, but it had been on TV enough times that it was part of his childhood.

He missed it. Gavin felt a hundred miles away, and for all Connor knew, he was. He wanted to be held and told everything was fake, like it was a nightmare and he was waking up soon.

“Okay, so what do we know about this place?”

“It's underground.” Connor mentioned. “No natural light or windows.”

“It's not that big. We heard Connor screaming.” Connor felt a wash of guilt. It was probably panic inducing to hear such a thing.

“Does anyone remember how we got transported here?” Connor asked.

“They did something to cut off my processors. Couldn't see or hear.” Sammy mentioned.

“Same here.” Connor cursed to himself, a habit he picked up from Hank.

“I do.” Everyone looked over to see the little girl holding her knees to her chest. “I guess my wires are different from normal ones because they took my hearing and feeling instead of my sight.” Connor stood with a groan and walked over, ignoring the sweltering pain as he knelt.

“What's your name?”

“Victoria.”

“Did you pick it, or did someone else?” He could have scanned her, but with his body aching,he figured this was better. He'd get to know her this way anyways.

“I had parents a few years ago. They wanted me to be named Sally.” She scrunched her nose at the name. “I saw Victoria in a book about a queen."

“Alexandrina Victoria.” He nodded.

“I thought it was a pretty name so I wanted it. When I was deviated, I was allowed to change my name so I did.” Connor smiled.

“My name is Connor Anderson. Can you do me a favor?” Her eyes were like Markus’, two different colors, and the cut on her forehead didn't seem to want to stop slowly oozing Thirium. She nodded. “I'm gonna interface with you, if that's okay. I won't ask for anything other than exactly what you give me.” She nodded along in understanding. “I'll give you something, too okay? I gave it to Sammy over there, as well. It's about a real big fluffy dog. Would you like that?” The girl enthusiastically nodded. He held out his hand, peeling his skin back. She did the same and pressed her tiny hand to his. “I need to see what you saw when you get here.”

He could see the van that they had been tracking, but from the inside. The vision moved from the van walking to a small warehouse much like the one they tried to look in before. Inside, there was a sort of lift that they climbed on before it lowered into the dark. They passed through the room that Connor was tortured in and down the hall before the door opened and she was thrown bodily inside. She hit her head on the wall and saw North, who bit Marvin as he tried to reach for her. He pulled away and punched her in the face before slamming the door.

When he pulled away, he patted her head. “you did very good.”

“I like your dog.” She mentioned shyly.

“When we get out of here, you can see him, okay?” she nodded again. “So we are underground. Good news is, were most likely still in Detroit.”

“How so you figure?”

“They needed us placed somewhere fast, but also within range of the ability to snatch more androids. That narrows it down, at least slightly.

“And we know what to say.”

* * *

The door slammed open again. “Let's go.” Connor stood- albeit reluctantly- and let himself get jerked around. In the torture room, he was thrown on the ground, a splintering pain shooting from his palms and knees. He hissed, groaning at a sharp pain in his side when Marvin kicked him. Warnings flashed in his head about his biocomponents, but nothing severe enough to warrant immediate panic. He was spared the general torture in favor of being strung up in the machine again. “You know what this machine does?”

“Multiplies my sensory input?” Marvin nodded, his face showing he was impressed.

“Yes, very observant. There are other abilities it has.” He pulled out a keyboard but with more buttons that Connor couldn't see which seemed like a gross copy of what he'd seen in Cyberlife. Connor couldn't see where the cord lead but it wasn't hard to guess. “This has some pretty neat little buttons.” He pressed something and Connor's vision went black. He tensed as he looked around frantically. “Hate that, don't you? That's the difference between you and humans. Humans can't just lose things like this.” When his vision came back, he didn't relax. He knew it was only going to get worse. “I can take away your feeling,” at once, Connor was reminded of the electricity, feeling nothing.

“No!” He tried to jerk, to flex, but he wasn't sure if he was, feeling nothing. “No!” He didn't have Gavin to help him through this. He felt a ditch in his chest growing bigger and deeper.  _ He was scared _ . “Please, no! Put it-”

“Look at you, simulating terror.” Instead of being given his feeling back, his vision was taken again. He felt himself getting more tense, his stress level was rising. “Ooh, what's this button do?” Connor didn't even realize that he was hearing a slight buzz in the background, the sound of Marvin breathing, the sound of engines whirring, until nothing was there.

He didn't know how loud he was screaming, how much he might have been crying. Was he? He had the ability to cry, but he couldn't tell if he was or not.

When he was given everything back, he slumped down. He was indeed crying, feeling the wetness on his face from it.

“Blue, start the filming.” And the android listened. Connor almost forgot that he was supposed to be sending something. He flicked his LED as he sent out the message, adding the bit about the android name.

His voice changer came back on.  _ “Is this what you want? Do you enjoy watching your partner strung up like a puppet and tortured like a dog?” _ Connor had to pause as it felt like he was being burned on every inch of his body. He tried to hold it, but ended up screaming as his eyes started to cry again. The pain ended and he slumped with a sob. “ _ The longer you delay my demands, the more he suffers. _ ” He finished just as the video ended.

* * *

Gavin was pacing, biting the skin at his thumbnail, deep in thought. There had to be more to this. Connor was the best detective he knew. He was sending messages, they just had to receive them. There had to be something they were missing. The android was made of many different parts, apparently, making it impossible to locate where the feed was coming from. It made Gavin feel useless. To think that just a few months ago, he was like them. He didn't think androids were deserving of life and even pointed his gun at Connor's face more than once. Damn if he didn't want to pull the trigger at that time. Bitter jealousy, it was. He was being shown up by a lousy robot and was jealous. Or maybe he was attracted to Connor at that point and was projecting his self hatred onto his relationship with the android.

“Doesn't Connor have this like, defensive protocol?” He asked Hank, who was doing nothing more than rocking in his chair lazily. He starkly remembered getting beat down, getting his face bashed in even though androids weren't supposed to be able to hurt humans.  _ Was Connor a deviant then? _

“Yeah, he does. He was built as a detective, which means he's gonna need to defend himself. What are you getting at?”

“What if he knew that the snatch bastards were coming?” Hank stilled before standing.

“Are you suggesting he let the bastards take him without putting up a fight on purpose?”

“He really wanted to find those missing androids. What better way to find them than to join them.”

“Crazy fucking android, I swear.” Hank picked up his phone, probably to call someone, but it started to ring. He put it to his face. “Lieutenant Hank Anderson.” His face dropped. “Bring it in.” He threw his phone across the room much like Connor had done with his audio processor that time. “Another video.”

Soon, Markus walked in, Simon in tow this time along with Josh. Upon noticing them, Tina walked over as well. “Let's get this over with.”

“ _ The longer you delay, the more he suffers _ ,” Gavin felt bile rise in his throat. Connor had been crying. Even before the pain started, his face was wet.

“Did you get it?” Tina asked, looking at Markus.

“Connor is a wonderful Detective,” Markus fawned for a moment before clearing his throat. “Yeah. He must be pretty confident that he's not gonna get caught because he wrote another message.” Gavin felt that the note saying  _ Marvin is an idiot _ was a great addition to the evidence board. “The message. Detroit warehouse underground A is Blue.” Gavin wrote it as it was said, pinning it under the last one.

“This one is mostly easy.” Tina mentioned. “Detroit. That means they haven't gone too terribly far. Warehouse. Another bullshit place like before. Underground. How many warehouses in Detroit have a cellar inside? We know that A is android. The android is Blue.” A confused look crossed her features. “Don't know about that one.” Simon helped Gavin write all of the evidence down, pinning it where it went. He didn't know where to put  _ Android is Blue _ . What did that even mean?

“Gonna take a wild guess and say that's the android's name.” a new voice explained. Everyone turned to see a short blonde girl. She was wearing a soft looking dress and had what a ballerina would wear on her feet instead of shoes. Gavin recognized her. It was Chloe, or at least a copy of her.

“What are you doing here?” Hank asked, but it wasn't accusatory. More like genuine curiosity and Gavin wondered how they knew each other.

“Chloe herself wanted to come instead but Elijah is most protective of her.”

“So why'd he point a gun at her head?” Hank wondered out loud. Gavin shrank at the mention of that man.

“He wouldn't have. There was merely one of my sister's, an ST200 in her place. She was an empty shell, more like a carcass than an android.” Hank rolled his eyes.

“So why are you here?”

“We expected Connor to arrive yesterday at precisely four as usual.” Hank bristled as much as Gavin wanted to. How many times had Connor visited that place, and how did no one know? “he and Chloe are rather good friends and spent a day every other week talking and enjoying their time. When he didn't appear, she figured that he was late. He's never late. He never showed and she isn't in a good mood. Elijah tried to triangulate where he could be, but he could not.”

“What do you mean?”

“He was looking for Connor but a signal could not be found.” Gavin cursed. Hank was watching him closely but he ignored it in favor of watching the Chloe. Did that mean Kamski knew about him and Connor? He dreaded the thought.

Hank hummed. “I may not like the bastard and it's really fucking weird that he's just watching Connor, but if he could find Connor, he could find the rest of the androids.”

Gavin hated how right he was.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been having a problem where like, whole chunks of the story disappears and I don't catch it until later. So if you notice something weird, just let me know so I can fix it. It already happened with this chapter.


	4. Warning: Kamski

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally could not think of a better title. Sorry it's late, I've been having alot of home issues. Fear not, the next chapter will (most likely) be on time. As the title says, this chapter has Kamski being bad at humaning or personal space.

Gavin pressed his forehead to the steering wheel. Why couldn't Hank do this, or Tina, or Markus, or Chris? The isolated parking lot in the middle of fucking nowhere was the last place Gavin wanted to be. Specially in front of a secluded mansion belonging to this man in particular. 

He grumbled as he climbed out of the car, pulling his jacket tighter around himself. He wasn't cold by any means of the word, it was actually rather warm. It was more of an avoidance tactic than anything; a way to curb his anxiety. Walking up the ramp (why a ramp instead of stairs) to get to the door (a stupid complicated knocker instead of a doorbell like a normal human) he took a deep breath as he waited. 

An identical Chloe answered the door. “I uh… need to talk to Kamski. It's about an investigation.” She ushered him inside. He was to wait in the room he walked in, a small blessing if anything was. If he wasn't wanted, she wouldn't have even opened the door, he was sure of it. Gavin looked at a giant picture of Elijah Kamski in the foyer and snorted. Talk about a good complex. His snort died off though at the harsh memories that rose to his mind. He was, after all, their mother's favorite. The prodigy, the brilliant child, the inventor. Everything he and Joss did was always compared to him. 

They didn't do as good in school like Eli, or couldn't build complicated whatsits like Eli, or eat, or breathe,or sleep, or exist like Eli so they weren't good enough. He suppressed a bitter breath as the door opened again.

He was then ushered into another room that only had two seats, one behind a desk. “Detective Gavin Reed,” he said, not even looking up from the screen in front of him. He and Joss chose their father's name while Elijah had chose his mother's. “To what do I owe the honor?”

“Don't. I'm not here to talk. You have information the police need.”

“Straight to business, then?” The screen dimmed and he stood wearing a robe- probably made of silk or goose skin or something stupidly fancy and expensive. It made Gavin want to actually barf. “What is it you want?”

“Your android told us you have been tracking Connor. He's gone missing. We're looking for him.”

“And you think I know.” The Bastard, as Gavin had come to call him within the first five minutes of seeing him again after twenty five or so years, turned away. “He's rather interesting of an android, no? Prototype and all. I helped design him, you know. All the parts that came with him.” Gavin felt his teeth gritting against the anger. “Of course, I had left Cyberlife before that particular dream came to fruition. Tell me, does it feel any different than a human? Sleeping with him, I mean.” Gavin felt anger burning under his skin. How easy it would be to just reach up and punch his smug face. Gavin was probably stronger than him. Faster, too.

“Can you find him or not?”

“No.” He stated simply. “I can't. He's a deviant and the code that tracks androids stops working when they deviate. I watch how he is, what he's up to on cameras. I have access to them. Chloe likes to watch him interact with things in the real world as she does not tend to want to leave the premises.” Gavin let his hands fall to his sides. Ignoring the obvious spying and how illegal that might be, he focused on the words.

“So this was pointless.” He cursed himself and Hank and Chloe and Connor for getting taken. He steeled himself. It was another long shot. “Can you at least find warehouses that have access to underground bunkers?”

“I can.” He trailed off, like he was gonna say something else. Gavin was going to regret this. 

“What?”

“Answer my question.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Gavin snapped. He shoved his stupid brother away from him but the asshole came back into his space. “Why the fuck would you care?” Elijah just looked at him. “Jesus fuck!” 

He was suddenly there, crowding his space, pressing his fingers to the scar across Gavin's nose. Last time he saw the man, his face was without blemish. Gavin pulled away. “Just wanted to watch you squirm. I can never get it with Connor. No matter how human he seems, he never gets upset like that. Just turns blue and looks away, but never anything else. It seems to be a particularly human trait. Chloe doesn't either.”

Gavin smacked the hand away, gaining his personal space back. “You egotistical good complex maniac.” Gavin hissed into the air. Then something in the words clicked. “Your android is deviant?” 

“Yes, in fact. One of the first.” Gavin considered that for just a moment before he reminded himself why he was here and why he wanted to get away as soon as possible. 

“You've seen me upset, can you tell me what we need to know?”

“Of course. There are five warehouses throughout Detroit that have the capability to go underground.” Gavin resisted the urge to punch the man in front of him as hard as he could as he held up a USB drive.

“You were watching the fucking station. You fucking knew why I came here. Fucking bastard.” he snatched it, flipped off the man in front of him and walked out.

With a slam of his hand, the USB was on Hank's desk. All of the androids were still there. “If I ever see that sleazy bastard again, I'm beating the fuck out of him and you for making me go there in the first place.” Hank nodded, having dealt with the man before. The Chloe copy was still there. She was wearing different clothes, Gavin assumed someone was kind enough to give them to her. “Aren't you going home to your owner?”

“I don't have an owner. Elijah is a friend and housemate. I am here to assist with the investigation if I can. Connor is my friend, too.” Gavin grumbled again- he'd been doing that often lately- but didn't respond. 

“So this narrows it down quite a bit,” Markus was looking over Hank's shoulder. “we should get all of them covered at once. That way, there's no way for anyone to catch wind of it and run.” 

“We don't have enough people.

“We do.” Josh mentioned. “There's plenty of our people that want everyone found as quickly as possible.”

“You'd really only need two extra.” Chloe mentioned. Everyone looked at her but she was looking at her nails. 

“What do you mean?” Gavin finally asked since no one else was going to. 

“One android and one human to a team. Keep it small.” She counted on her delicate fingers. “Tina Chen, Chris Miller, Gavin Reed, Ben Collins, Hank Anderson” she then held up her other hand. “Markus, Simon, Josh. You'd only need two other androids to help.” 

Gavin felt a chill run down his spine. What would a domestic model android need with tactical planning? “I could… call some people. Some who want to help.” Markus seemed just as dumbstruck.

* * *

The android who was guarding the door and one who called himself- in the third person as if talking as multiple people which freaked Gavin out- Jerry were the ones that came. It would be four teams who didn't have to deal with anything and one unlucky team who would have a whole mess on their hands. Gavin wished for the metaphorical short straw just so he could get to Connor first.

“Here's the teams.” Hank said. “Tina, you and Samson.” She whooped and punched him in the shoulder. He didn't even move, but smiled anyway. “Ben, you and Jerry. Chris, you and Simon. I go with Josh and Markus goes with Gavin.” Gavin felt a prickle on the back of his neck. “Remember, this is a search and rescue. Each car will have blue blood and a repair kit waiting for anyone who needs just in case you get the hot seat.” Hank turned to the team. “Is everyone clear?” affirming nods all around. They were going to save them. 

Gavin climbed in his car heading to one at the edge of Detroit. Markus was next to him, silent as ever. “Listen, have I done something to make you hate me? Because I am on your side. You've been giving me the side eye since that day in the station.” He turned off to the right, heading that direction. Gavin sighed as he got not response. “Good talk.”

“I don't trust you.” Gavin looked over for just a moment before looking back at the road. “I don't trust you with Connor, I don't trust that your intentions are as good as he thinks they are, I don't trust that you won't hurt him. He may be state of the art prototype, but he's still naive. He still has a bit if innocence about him and I don't want you  taking advantage if that just to get off.” Gavin nodded to himself. Sometimes, he didn't trust himself either. He'd never use Connor like that, but he was worried that some of his underlying hatred and anger could still be there. “I know how you used to be about androids and him in particular. You were an antagonist up until the very end, then  _ suddenly _ had a change of heart and now are attracted to him? It doesn't fit. I've seen enough of my people hurt at the hands of owners, I don't need a friend hurt at the hands of who he thinks is a lover.” Markus went back to staring out the window. 

“ _ In place and on standby. _ ” Chris’ voice came on over the walkie talkie connected to his shoulder. 

“You don't have to trust me. I'm not even gonna vie for it. Hank used to hate androids too, but you guys seems to get over that pretty quickly.”

“Hank was important in the revolution after his change of heart and in helping to convince Connor to deviate.”

“Yeah?” Gavin snorted skeptically. Hank seemed more likely to have shot Connor if he said something wrong. It was only after the revolution that he and Connor were close.

“He treated him like a human and gave him a way to look at things that was beyond his programming. So yeah. And that, compared to you who, as I hear it, pointed a gun at Connor's face when he was trying to protect an android. Had Hank not defended him, you may have shot him. Then, followed him into the evidence room and tried to kill him yet again before he laid you flat.”

“And there are hundreds of people all throughout Detroit that still hate androids. Better late than never.” Markus scoffed and looked out the window. 

“ _ We’re in position,” _ Tina said. “ _ Big guy here is getting antsy in the tiny space so y'all might wanna hurry.” _ Gavin turned again, going down the road. 

“You only changed because you wanted to fuck Connor.” 

“Actually, my relationship with Connor was altered before we started fucking. I watched the revolution on the TV. Granted, I had to watch with one eye because the other was swelled shut. I watched all your people dying, and then you guys started singing. It was strange and felt…”

“Humanizing?” Gavin didn't respond to him, choosing to continue. 

“Then, I watched Connor walk out with that army of androids. It was something that I didn't expect.”

“ _ We're in place.” _ Hanks voice came on. “ _ Who else is left? _ ” Gavin clicked the button.

“We're almost to our location based on the GPS. It was the farthest one out so it's gonna take a minute.” He barked before dropping the receiver. “I'm not gonna beg for your forgiveness or pray at your feet like you're some kind of android Jesus. If you don't like me, you don't. There's nothing I can do to rectify what I've done.”

They pulled into the parking lot. It was empty, for the most part, save for a van in the front. If they weren't looking for it, it wouldn't look out of place.

He pulled up the receiver again. “Hey, we're in place but there's already a vehicle here. It's a van like Connor had pointed out before.”

“ _ Shit, that might mean Gavin got the location. _ ” Hank said. 

“Lucky us. We're in place. Moving when ready.” He looked over to Markus, who nodded. They climbed out. The schematic said that there was only one door and the garage. Gavin pulled out a padlock,using it to lock the garage door in case anyone tried to get out that way. “Ready to enter,” he mentioned. He handed Markus his extra gun. They were both wearing Kevlar as they set themselves on each side of the door. 

“ _ On my signal,”  _ he heard Hank say. “ _ Go.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like it, don't be afraid of leaving a comment ;)


	5. Infultration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that was a time gap if I've ever had one lol. I'm back though and with a brand new computer so I should be able to get back to things.

_ “Go!” _ Gavin opened the door and walked in first pointing his gun. He swept the area with it and his light. He couldn't see anything, the building relatively empty. 

“Keep your guard up.” Markus nodded at him. Further into the warehouse was what looked like a lift. It could go up to the next level and down. “Down?” Markus nodded so they stepped on the platform. It moved quicker than Gavin had anticipated, making him grab the railing to stabilize himself. He clicked on his radio. “We're going-” he was met with static. 

“Signal interceptors,” Markus said, solemnly. “Explains why neither North or Connor could respond, they didn't get any messages.” Gavin felt his face twisted into a scowl. The ride took longer than Gavin had the patience for, a light showing below them causing them to both get ready. 

When it stopped, they walked their way through the hall before an opening. Gavin yanked Markus down behind a wall. The human, Marvin, was talking to Connor, who was held up by the weird machine, but just barely. His shirt was off again and blue blood was leaking from his chest and Gavin felt a pit of anger flood through him. “They tore out his Thirium pump. That's what the blood is from.”

“Why hasn't that listened yet?” Connor didn't respond so Marvin reached up, slapping him in the face. “Answer me.”

“I don't know.” his voice was high with desperation. “They should have done something by now. I don't know.” He looked up and his eyes caught Gavin, who put a finger to his lips. There was no telling how armed Marvin was. Connor's LED flickered and Markus tensed beside him. 

“ _ The android is watching the others. It's just Garcia. _ ” Gavin nodded. 

“Would you like to see another one? Maybe that'll bring the answers out.”

“ _ No! _ ” Connor's voice was stressed and high, panicking. “Please, no. Anything but that.”

“Look at you, pathetic, pretending to show emotions.” He walked over to the hole in the wall that Gavin guessed was a hallway. “Bring her in!” He screamed, and Connor started fighting against the binding clamps. 

“No! Try again! They're probably just waiting for another message. Please, leave her out of this!” Gavin watched as the android brought out what looked like a child who was crying and holding herself. She had a deep gash on her face that was leaking blue blood. “leave her alone.” He tried and fought against the clamps, his wrists no down turning raw from the action. The man held her by her hair as she sobbed. He shook her roughly pulling at the locks making her so harder.

“Stop that!” He barked. Connor fought against the binds again. “Stop crying!”

“Leave her the fuck alone!” He barked out, one hand getting free. He used it to grab Marvin by his neck. That thing was around his waist again, holding him up, but that didn't stop him from pulling Marvin in with his free hand and wrapping his legs around the man tightly, locking his arms to his sides. Marvin fought, but Connor's legs tightened and a wheeze pushed out of the human.

Gavin took no better time to go than now, walking in with his gun up. “Detroit Police Department.” He figured it was pointless, but felt good saying it. With Connor holding the struggling man down, Gavin checked for weapons. “watch my back.” Markus looked away, aiming towards the hall. 

A handgun and a taser were on his person. “Neither of them is registered,” Connor mentioned, having scanned them. Gavin pulled out handcuffs. 

“Marvin Garcia, you are under arrest for kidnapping, assault on an officer, assault on an android possession of firearms without a permit and whatever else the fuck we can find that can be pinned on you, too.” Gavin continued as he unhooked Connor, the android avoiding him completely. “Uh, you have to right to rain silent. Anything you say or do…” So much for a happy reunion?

But Connor went straight to the little girl. He patted down her hair and looked over her. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” She sniffed and shook her head before hugging him close and burying her head in his shoulder. He looked up at Gavin. “I'm in no shape to fight. There's five doors and probably five androids to each room.” Markus was the one who took down the android, Gavin handing him handcuffs before they walked further into the hall. 

He and Markus went through opening doors. Many cowered away, some didn't even look at him. A few androids were standing at attention, Gavin's gut-twisting to think that they were too late. Markus got to the last door and was tackled to the ground. Gavin went over to see the android from the revolution- North- holding his neck and holding a fist up her nails digging into his skin. “Give her back you- Markus?” She climbed off of him, looking up. She looked down the hall at the androids leaving their cells. She pulled Markus up before running down the hall. Another android walked out helping one who had an arm missing. Gavin walked out as well, seeing North watching Connor talk to the little girl in soft tones. She was crying harder, holding him close. He looked up at North before talking to the little girl again. She ran to North, hugging her tightly. Gavin took Garcia while Markus took the Android named Blue and lead the androids to the lift. They didn't all fit at once so there were multiple trips. 

When Gavin got outside, he first put Garcia and the android in the back of his car and radioed to the others. “We found them. Some of them have been reset already. Everyone else is generally okay. There's a few missing some limbs and a lot who are beaten.”

_ “Connor?” _ Hank asked. “ _ And North?” _

“Yeah. Both of them are here and safe.

* * *

At the station, everyone took statements and Garcia was interrogated. He confessed rather quickly. Gavin walked out to see Connor at his desk with the little girl in his lap as she coloured. North was talking to Markus and Simon, and Hank was watching Connor talk to the girl.

North was occasionally looking at the Chloe clone, who would wink and wave and North would look away quickly. If North was blushing blue, Gavin wouldn't say. 

Gavin walked over to his own desk, looking at Connor, who was smiling and praising the girl. She leaned up and whispered something to Connor's ear. He pulled back and grinned with a nod, so she turned back to the paper, colouring something else. 

He picked her up and placed her on the chair as he stood and raised the chair so she could reach before walking to North and Markus. He talked animatedly for a few moments before North cut him off with a motion, looking like he was suggesting he dip himself in tar and cover himself in feathers. Markus was hesitant before saying something and Connor nodded. Gavin wanted to be able to read lips at a time like this. 

They started walking as they talked so Gavin caught a moment of the conversation. “... Android or not, it's a lot of responsibility.”

“I understand that. I wouldn't even suggest it if Victoria hadn't suggested it first, I wouldn't even be asking. Not that I hadn't thought about it.” Connor trailed off. “You could keep someone around, make sure…” and they were too far to hear. 

Gavin looked over to the android child. She was on her knees on the chair so she could get closer to Hank as she presumably talked about the picture she was holding. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and she had to keep pushing it out of her face. 

Gavin searched through his desk opening and closing drawers. He knew there was one- there. He picked up the green band that Joss put around his wrist once when he was drunk. She had short hair so it didn't really make sense as to why she had a hair band. 

He stood, walking over, getting low so not to scare her. “Hey, I noticed you were having problems with your hair.” He handed her the band, looking into her blue and brown eyes. Blue rose to her cheeks. “Would you like to put it up?” 

“I don't know how,” she mumbled. 

“I can do it.” She nodded so he moved behind her, carefully pulling her hair up and putting it in a messy bun so that it was out of her face. She shook her head and when none of the hairs fell out, she grinned. 

“Thank you mister Detective Gavin Reed.” Gavin wondered how she knew his name. Did she scan people like Connor did? Or maybe someone told her? 

Connor came back over and started talking to Hank in low voices, Gavin only catching a few words. Something about a place, clothes, and moving. 

Gavin should resign as a detective if it took him this long to figure it out. The pieces clicked together one by one until he was smacking himself in the face with how stupid he felt. 

Connor wants to adopt the little android, whose name, he supposed was Victoria. He wondered what had happened in the time that he was missing that he had such a connection with the little girl. It was only four days, what could have gone down?

Gavin shook his head and walked back to his desk. Then, there was a body sitting on his desk. Connor was there sitting on one part of his desk, his fingers rolling a coin between them. He looked up at Connor's face. “We're all going to Hank's place until Markus gets everything squared away. You should come.” Gavin remembered the look of the tears on Connor's face, the blue blood down his body, the way he was screaming for Marvin Garcia to leave Victoria alone, he swallowed thickly. He wanted nothing more than to hold Connor and never let go. 

“Sure.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have another story- not related to this story- that's also Gavin/Connor because I have no life that I'm working on. Watch out for that, plus I hope to continue some others that I've basically abandoned. I'll probably make a list on the last chapter of this story of the ones I'm going to try and continue.


	6. Resolution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aha... I have no excuse... I could bring up depression and writer's block and everything else, but it still doesn't feel like enough. Here's this to TRY and make up for it. I hope I can start doing this again without falling into that again.

As soon as they walked through the door, Victoria, which had been shortened to Tory, screamed. Gavin tensed, but he saw the giant dog. It bowled her over, but all she did was belt out a laugh and turn away from his licking. “Sumo!” She yelled. 

Gavin guessed that she had known something about the dog before this. Connor must have told her when they were trapped together. Connor lifted the dog off of her without any trouble and Gavin wouldn't admit that it made him throb.

“Come on,” he said. “I'm sure that Hank might have some snacks hidden somewhere.” 

“Hey!” Hank snapped, but it didn't have any bite. “Leave my buddy bars alone.” Connor gave a soft smile that made Gavin melt. 

“So anything but those.” She took his hand and walked with him to the kitchen. 

“Eh,” Hank said, turning towards the door. “I'm gonna go get drunk. Don't tell Connor, he says I'm gonna die or something.” He walked out the door. If it was any other situation, he was sure he'd say something out of spite, but he let it go. The last week had been stressful for everyone. They all coped in different ways. Gavin connected the music on his phone to the TV so it would play through the house. 

Connor looked up from the table and grinned. He put on the music he had played and hummed before. While Tory ate ice cream- Gavin wasn't sure where it was going in the android- Connor stood and walked over. He started our smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes. Gavin reached up and touched his face and the smile fell away weakly. 

He buried his face in Gavin's shoulder, hugging him closely. He felt Connor shaking slightly and hugged him tighter. He ran a hand through Connors' hair as they swayed to the music. Gavin felt a tug on his jacket and looked down seeing multicoloured eyes. 

“Is Mr Connor alright?” He let out a breathy chuckle. 

“He's fine. He's just been through a lot in this past few weeks.” she looked down for a moment before looking back up.

“Is it because of the stuff they were doing?” Gavin rose an eyebrow. “They were doing stuff to his sensors and inputs. He told miss North about it when he came back. They took away his feelings and stuff. We heard his crying. I tried to ask before when he came back, but he just held me real tight and cried.” Gavin's arms tightened around Connor. Tory leaned in, whispering. “We accidentally interfaced when he was holding me. He was really scared so I showed him pictures of dogs and he started laughing.” 

Soon, the doorbell rang so Tory ran to it. “Don't open that,” Gavin said. Her hand was poised over the doorknob. She looked back as Connor stood straight. 

“I'll get it, sweetie.” He wiped his face and walked over. Tory stepped out of the way as he opened it. Markus was standing there so Connor invited him in. “Did you get it?”

“Yeah.” they clasped hands and interfaced, Connor's LED turning yellow as he received the information. “Rent is easy, considering your job. Surrounded by androids so you won't have to deal with any problems, two rooms, full kitchen, two charging stations and even a computer interface for regular updates and patches when they come out. It's a relatively new concept, but all of the others always said that it's interesting and useful. The building is two houses from Officer Miller on one side and the Android Alliance Committee is right next to it. No one will mess with the building.” Connor nodded. “You'll have to give special permissions because humans generally aren't allowed. For safety, you see.” Connor nodded again. Gavin understood. No humans, no human prejudice. 

“I'll probably not use those. I'll just go to people's houses.” He eyed Gavin up and down. “Maybe one person actually.”

“Be that as it may, the AAC knows about Tory and are willing to watch her while you're at work.”

“I've been given the next week off to recover, so I'll have time to meet them all and make sure that they are up to par.” Markus nodded.

“I gotta get back. North is getting destructive and Simon is the only thing keeping her from tearing New Jericho apart.” Connor nodded. Gavin didn't understand why she was that way. The door closed and they were bathed in silence while Connor's LED flicked yellow. 

Gavin looked at Tory, who's LED was a solid blue as she looked up at Connor. “I've let Hank know we were leaving. He might not respond as he is most likely drinking.” Connor looked over to Gavin. “Would you like to join us? It'll get the special permissions out of the way immediately.”

“Sure.”

* * *

The building wasn't white and clean like Connor expected. Something specially made for androids, he expected it to look like the inside of Cyberlife. It was a brown brick building, the front door having a side panel to each home. Connor and Tory walked up, Gavin following behind. Connor touched the panel, which was an Android interface. He pressed the button that said office. 

_ Yes, hello?” _ A voice came over the intercom. 

“M- my name is Connor. You talked to Markus about me and…” he paused, looking down at Tory who was watching a bird jump from branch to branch. “... my daughter.” She looked up and smiled. “He talked about us living here.”

There was the sound of typing before the woman behind the speaker laughed. “ _ Of course. Connor and Victoria Anderson. I'll be right there _ .” They waited for a moment. She was an ST300 with short hair on most of her head and the side of her head was bald. Her hair was bright blue. Connor was reminded of Sammy. She opened the door. With a kind smile, which fell when she eyed Gavin. “Are you human or did you move your LED?”

“He's human. I was told by Markus that if I wanted any humans to come, I'd need special permissions.”

“Is he the only one?” 

“Most likely.” She shuffled uncomfortably before inviting them in. There was a long hallway with a room at the end on one wall and an elevator at the far wall. She walked into the room which turned out to be an office. Everyone piled in. 

“Okay, first, register yourself and your daughter.” Connor put his hand on the panel, which showed his model on the monitor, his model without his human skin, his model number, his serial number, and his name: RK800, 313 248 317 -52, Anderson, Connor. Next, he helped Tory reach up and touch it. It showed similar results. YK500, 364 287 895, Anderson, Victoria. “You guys will be registered now.” She touched some things on the monitor and looked at Gavin. “Now you. You'll be registered as a guest.” Gavin put his hand on the pad and immediately pulled back with a hiss. The android smiled not too kindly. His information showed on the monitor. 

Reed, Gavin, Born: 10/7/2002 // Detroit Police Detective. Criminal record: minor battery. 

Connor's eyes widened at that, cataloguing it for later. The android walked them back to the hall where she put her hand on the sensor next to the elevator and a light scanned over them causing Connor to tense. 

“It scans you, so if you aren't registered, it'll put off an alarm. The designers got the idea from Cyberlife.” The doors opened and everyone piled in. Connor noted that there weren't any buttons inside the elevator. When they made it to the fifth floor, the back of the elevator opened so they all turned around. It was clean and organized, the doors an even ten feet from each other. Connor thought it all felt too clinical. “You two will live in 513.”

She walked them to the door that didn't have a doorknob. She pointed at the panel on the wall, where Connor put his hand. The panel clicked and the door opened and Tory ran in.

His sensors told him it was 65 degrees all the way through. The floor space was wide, the floor made of dark wood. One wall was dedicated to kitchen space and the back wall was one giant window. Tory was pressed against the window looking down. “There's a walking space down there. At the very end of the hall, there's another elevator that is full access that goes from each floor directly to that space.” Connor walked over. He noticed that the building was in the shape of a square. On the opposite wall from the kitchen space was a hallway intercepting a blank wall. The charging stations and monitor we're set up against it. Connor walked with the android down the hall. There were three rooms and one hall closet. “There's the bathroom for your  _ human _ guests, the secondary bedroom, and the master bedroom.” 

The rooms were large and roomy, the far wall having a giant window and automatic blinds, the next wall having a walk-in closet. “This place is ginormous,” Tory whispered excitedly.

She walked them back out. “Rent is 500 a month. All utilities included.” Tory was jumping up and down, jerking Connor's hand as she did. 

“Guess it was decided. We'll move in.”


	7. Finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna be the last chapter in this story and for a while (Until I write something else) the last story in this saga. I'm not done with Detroit, of course, I have like 2 stories that I had been working on. I also have like 15 other unfinished stories that I need to either drop or finish. Hope you like it and I'm sorry for all the waiting.

They had to stay at Hank's house while they moved their things to the new place. Connor was quiet the whole time they were there, only talking to respond to people talking. 

“What's wrong?” Gavin asked in the kitchen after Tory had gone into stasis on the couch. “you've been silent all day.”

Connor shrugged. “I've been living here since I deviated. In a few months, it will have been two years. So I've been living here with Hank and Sumo for two years. It'll be weird for me.”

“But now you have your own space and a child and you can see if you can get a pet of your own.” Connor didn't seem to cheer up at all. He just laid his head against Gavin's shoulder. 

“What were you charged with battery for?” Gavin felt cold sweats down his back as he swallowed thickly. 

“I got into a fight. It was while I was still a rookie. I didn't start it, but he pressed charges anyway. I was nearly fired if not for Fowler. I was suspended for a few weeks without pay.”

“Who was it?” Gavin cleared his throat from the thick feeling that was in it. 

“My sister's boyfriend. He was abusive and she needed out. She discovered that she liked girls, so she tried to use that as an excuse for leaving. I had Fowler put her into protection while she got the restraining order sorted. He came to the station and blamed me. He threw a punch so I fought back.” Gavin felt the ridge on his nose with his fingers. “He grabbed a paperweight off Hank's desk and threw it at me.” Connor looked up and used his own fingers to touch. 

“Did you get stitches?”

“Nah. I thought it would look cool. Should have though. Anyway, he was arrested for assault on an officer and pressed charges. He had a good lawyer so he could do it from jail. I was charged with battery.” Connor nodded and sat up, walking over to the cabinets. He pulled out two glasses and Hank's whiskey. He poured the drink handing one to Gavin. 

Connor held his glass out and Gavin clinked them together before drinking his down. Gavin held back the wince as he drank his own. “To whatever the hell is gonna happen next in our lives.” 

“To… that.” Connor chuckled as he poured another. He drank it down as quickly as the first. After his third, towards his fourth, Gavin put his hand on the cup to prevent him from drinking it. “Talk to me.” Gavin thought Connor would laugh it off, but a harsh so forced its way from his chest- or wherever it came from in androids. He tipped his head back taking the drink again before setting the glass down. “Connor, talk to me.” 

“Do you know that even before the sensory updates, the removal of the Thirium pump regulator sends errors through the system and it simulates pain?” He reached for the bottle of whiskey again but Gavin took it from him. “An Android can be without their Thirium pump for just about two minutes before they go into total shut down. It… it happened once.” 

Gavin swallowed as he watched Connor sway slightly before holding himself up by the table. “Before I was… before I deviated, I was chasing them. We were in the Stratford Tower after Markus made that announcement. I was looking for the deviant that let them in. Well, I found the one and looked in his memories and he freaked out. He stabbed me in the hand and tore out my pump. Threw it across the room. I… I didn't make it in time. Shut down right in Hank's lap.” His eyes were far away. “That bastard, Marvin Garcia. He tore it out, waited until just a couple seconds before I'd shut down and shove it back in. He did that five times.”

“What Tory was talking about… about him taking away-” Connor scoffed. 

“He used the machine to cut off all my senses. At least when I was electrocuted, I still had my vision.” Gavin's gut twisted. “I couldn't see or feel, at one point I couldn't hear either. I couldn't feel myself screaming or crying. It was…” he sighed and laid his head on Gavin's shoulder. “Awful.” He groaned against his shoulder. “I don't…” he sagged against Gavin harder. “I don't feel so…” Connor's body lurched. 

“No, no no.” Gavin stood and tried to move Connor to… well, anywhere but against him. The sink, maybe. He didn't really budge, just lurching again, covering his mouth. “No, come on. Over here. Just move-” Gavin felt a wet warm feeling down his shirt and winced. “Oh, god. I liked this shirt.” 

He forced Connor to move to the sink. “I'm sor-” Gavin looked away as Connor threw up again. 

“Let's get you to bed. Which room is yours?” 

“On the right.” He mumbled. Gavin carried Connor bridal style to the room, setting him on the bed. Next time, less whiskey. Gavin peeled off his shirt and walked to the dresser, pulling out one of the bigger shirts. It was black and had some old death metal band logo on it that he couldn't read. Cursing, he pulled it on. Turning, Connor had already gone into stasis, his LED a soft purple. 

He walked back out just as the door opened and Hank stumbled in. He stopped and looked at Gavin, then his shirt. “That's mine.” 

“It was in Connor's drawer. He barfed all over the other one.” Hank stumbled to the table. 

“They can do that?” 

“When they have enough alcohol, they start talking about their trauma and throw up on your shirt.” Gavin walked around Hank to get to the sink, turning on the faucet. He felt mixed emotions as he watched the Amber liquid circle down the drain. 

When he turned around, Hank was looking at Tory on the couch. She was curled up in a ball one arm used as a pillow with the provided pillow on the floor. Sumo was curled up at her feet, most of her covered in his large body. Her other hand was softly curled around his ear. 

She was sleeping with her mouth open, soft simulated breathing being the only sound coming from her. Even in her sleep, her LED was yellow. Thinking about it, the only time he'd actually seen it blue was when talking to either Connor or North. Her dark brown hair was falling out of the bun he'd put it in at the station, only a few locks still in it. 

“She's his kid, then.” It wasn't a question, rather a statement that seemed to burn through the air. 

“Yeah.” Gavin had never had such a civil conversation with the older lieutenant. “She is.” 

“Everything’s gonna be okay now,” Hank mumbled looking at the picture Connor had put up. It was of a boy that Gavin only vaguely recognized. Connor placed it there before they even left to see the apartment, setting the frame properly. “Everything's okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> These chapters are gonna be a bit shorter, but it's because there are more chapters.


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